A quarterback scramble or scramble is an impromptu maneuver or run in American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 and Canadian football

Canadian football

Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

 by a quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

. If a quarterback is under pressure by an opposing team's defense, he may run forward, backward, or laterally in an attempt to avoid being tackled behind the line of scrimmage—a quarterback sack

Quarterback sack

In American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass, or when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the "pocket" and the intent of what he was going to do is unclear...

. A scramble is not usually a designed play, but instead is the action of a quarterback to avoid being sacked by the defense or an improvised run forward to gain yardage if an opportunity presents itself.

External links

• Youtube video of a successful quarterback scramble